Fateful Triangle

Peace for Galilee507Palestinians, were killed without record, not buried or buried in massgraves. This conclusion seems quite plausible, unless we are to believethat the Israeli sources cited above, and the Lebanese government andpolice, are also part of the international conspiracy to defame Israel.With regard to the Lebanese, the assumption does not square too wellwith the doctrine concerning their joy at being liberated, as alreadynoted, unless perhaps we invoke some Peretz-style musings about the“Arab national character.”The storm over “hasbara failure” elicited some ridicule in the Israelipress. An article in Haolam Haze asked: “How are we to explain that anArab child weeping next to his mother’s body proves our justice”? It goeson to comment on the use of the word “hasbara” (“explanation”) forwhat is ordinarily called “propaganda” or “psychological warfare.” Theassumption behind this curious usage, which appears to be rare amongthe nations of the world, is thatobviously the Israeli government is right in all that it does.Therefore, all we have to do is to “explain” its motives andthen any sensible person shall support it. Anyone who won’tbe persuaded by the hasbara is anti-Semitic (if he is aGentile) or self-hating (if he happens to be Jewish), like[Austrian Prime Minister] Bruno Kreisky, for example. Thisblind belief in the power of hasbara is typical of all theIsraeli establishment. If the Gentiles don’t wholeheartedlysupport Israeli government actions and policies, thensomething must have gone wrong with hasbara. Hasbara isat fault. Therefore the hasbara must be changed, just as onechanges a sparkplug in a car. It reminds me of the cheatedhusband who catches his wife making love to his friend on acouch in his house—and decides to burn the couch. 265Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky